It was relatively quiet up at the Barley Mow at Bonsall on Wednesday. After all, the World Hen Racing Championships, the daft annual event they've made their own at the pub, had been staged at the weekend and most traces of it were gone.

The daft, fun event has attracted international publicity and really put the old pub on the map – which is where it needs to be since it’s not in the centre of the small but lively village near Cromford.

But I wasn’t visiting to talk about hen racing. At last, the pub’s own brewery, Chickenfoot, is up and running, perhaps fittingly in the 10th year that Colette Dewhurst has been landlady of the pub.

I may have described Colette as a force of nature before. She is loud and fun, generous and one of those people who doesn’t have any truck with the word “can’t.” She instinctively knows what’s right for the pub and does it, from the beer to the food, to the welcome and the regular music.

The brewery is a natural addition and has been set up by Colette’s husband, Mick Boam, formerly the village plumber, a man born and bred in Bonsall. Mick’s not claiming to be a brewing expert – yet – but he’s listening to experts and his first few efforts have been very well received.

Barley Mow licensees Colette Dewhurst and Mick Boam.

Chickenfoot Brewery occupies a corner of the pub car park in a new stone building housing a neat two-and-half barrel plant with two fermenters, soon to become three as demand grows. At the moment, Mick can brew up to nine firkins (nine-gallon casks) at a time but that will do, he says, while he’s learning.

“I was born in the village. This was my dad’s local and the first pub I ever had a beer in,” he says. “I had never considered brewing but I had thought about having a pub. As a plumber, though, the actual brewing kit interests me, seeing how it all connects up and all integrates.

“I’ve had so much help. Ed Allingham at Leatherbritches has been brilliant, so has Jim Harrison at Thornbridge and we’re good friends with the new Aldwark Brewery down the road. If you need an answer, someone will always give you one. I’ve quickly found there’s a lot of good people in this business.”

“I’m just trying to keep things simple for now. British hops, British yeast. The beer’s going down well, but I’m still trying it out, finding out what people like. At the minute, we’re just servicing the pub. Hopefully, we will get it out there and sell it to others later.”

There is no hurry on that one. This is the busiest time of the year for the Barley Mow, the height of the season, especially with the weather so good, and it’s all hands to the pumps, literally.

Apart from the hen racing, when they shifted four casks of Thornbridge (who sponsored the event) and five casks of Chickenfoot beers, they have just had the village carnival, at which they provided the beer tent.

People do come from far and wide. The pub wasn’t open while we were chatting but a guy called Mike turned up on his motorbike, all the way from Sleaford, Lincolnshire. He got a beer.

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Mick is developing a core range of four beers, naturally all with chicken themes. I tried Sesh-hen (the puns don’t get better), a really good, moreish 3.8% pale. There is also Combover, a blonde ale at 4.8% with the hen’s “hairstyle” on the artwork notably reminiscent of that of the current US president. A 4.2 pale is called Eggzhibit A, which was Mick’s first brew and one he is now trying to replicate. Then there’s Great Brit-Hen, a traditional best bitter with a punk haircut and, coming soon, is Good Vibrates-hens, a more fruity 4.8% beer.

“There didn’t seem so many lager drinkers at the hen racing this year,” muses Mick. “Perhaps things are changing. I think more women and young people are trying the beer, especially the pale ones.”

You get the feeling that whatever the changes, they will be ready for them at the Barley Mow.

The Barley Mow at Bonsall. (Image: Colston Crawford)

“It’s a massive challenge to have a pub in a place where there are not that many houses,” says Colette. “But we’ve had massive support, not just from the brewing community but from our wonderful family and friends, both moral and financial. We couldn’t have done it without them.

“The brewery will help us get through the struggle in winter. When the weather’s bad, we don’t get the gritters up here. Mick has cleared the road up to the pub himself before now.

“We’ve just been given a Trip Advisor five years of excellence award, which is not bad for a fickle and unreliable person like me!”

She laughs at that but, more seriously: “I’ve never walked away from this pub at the end of the day in 10 years and thought ‘that’s it.’ I love it, it's fun.”